This week's meal includes Baked Ziti, Orlondo's Salad, and Lemon Olive Oil Cake.
The Baked Ziti is a straightforward vegetarian pasta dish that is as comforting as it is delicious. I make it by layering pasta, homemade slow-cooked tomato sauce, and ricotta cheese. I simmer the tomato sauce to develop a deep, sweet tomato flavor that perfectly cuts the ricotta cheese's richness. The cheese is a blend of ricotta, whole milk mozzarella, and parmesan. It's soft, melty, and a little salty. It's perfect. I bake the entire thing until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce and the cheese is melted and bubbling. It's perfect and delicious.
The Orlondo's Salad is inspired by one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Des Moines that sadly closed a few years back. They had great pizza. Green and black olive was my personal favorite. And more importantly, they had the most legendary salad. The salad was iceberg lettuce, shredded mozzarella cheese, the best salad dressing, and pepperoncini. The key to the salad is the amount of salad dressing (a ton) and the ratio of lettuce and cheese, 1:1. I crave it all the time. Luckily they sell the salad dressing at local grocery stores. I make it with romaine lettuce, shredded mozzarella cheese, Orlondo's salad dressing, and a pepperoncini. I don't usually use store-bought products for my meals, but this exception is worth it. If I could get my hands on the recipe, I would GLADLY make it myself.
The Lemon Olive Oil cake is an ultramoist lemon cake with a subtle olive oil flavor. It is iced with lemon icing to add an extra boost of lemon flavor. It's divine! The recipe comes from Yossy Arefi's wonderful book Snaking Cakes.
I hope you love this week's meal as much as I do. Next week's meal is Roast Chicken with Warm Bread Salad and Seven Layer Bars.